thesweetcheat

Looking south, with Moel Ednyfed the prominent little hill on the right skyline.

September 2024.

Limited support from this orthostat!

From the north.

September 2024.

Moel Lefn offers a wonderful high-level panoramic view of Yr Wyddfa, looking over Beddgelert Forest.

Moel yr Ogof, centre, with Moel Hebog behind. Seen from the northwest on the slopes of Moel Lefn. The coastline of Bae Ceredigion stretches away on the right.

Moel Hebog rises centre skyline, crowned with a cairn cemetery. Seen from the rocky summit of Moel Lefn to the northwest.

The cairn in the foreground with extended walking pole laid across it to show how small it is. I couldn’t see anything that might be described as a ‘capstone’ as mentioned in the Coflein record, but a cairn of only 1.2m diameter isn’t really big enough for a cist, surely, unless the cist is somewhere nearby? Looking towards the steep slopes of Moel Hebog, with Cnicht and Y Moelwynion beyond to the left.

The cairn might be tiny, but the views are epic. Towards Yr Wyddfa.

The extremely diminutive cairn in the foreground, with a diameter of just over a metre. It took a bit of wandering about the flat area to the east of the summit (rising behind) to find it!

Moel yr Ogof rising over Bwlch Mellionen, from the southeast.

Zoom on Moel yr Ogof from the upper slopes of Moel Hebog. The path to the cairn and summit is through a dramatic gap in the sheer cliffs separating the southeastern slopes of the mountain from Bwlch Mellionen.

The previous time I came up here with postie, the visibility was reduced to a few yards. This time I was treated to wonderful views in all directions. Looking south-ish, with Aranau on the left skyline and Cader Idris rising beyond Y Rhinogydd just the right of centre. The wall shows where most of the cairn material ended up.

On the summit cairn’s western side, the base blends into the natural outcrops. Looking towards Llŷn and Yr Eifl.

Moel Hebog summit cairn, September 2024.

The remains of the big summit cairn. Sadly it’s been very badly treated, robbed to build a wall and with an OS trig pillar plonked on top, which as Gladman says is distinctly moth-eaten now. Amazing views towards the Llŷn peninsula.

Marker cairn nearest to the summit cairn. This one doesn’t have a particularly obvious footprint to suggest an earlier origin. Terrific view of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) on the left.

The concentric rings near the big summit cairn. Looking towards Yr Eifl (to the right of the trig pillar).

Another enigmatic ring, this one closer to the big summit cairn, which can be seen behind on the right. Looking out over the curve of Bae Tremadoc.

A modern marker cairn surmounts what appears to be a much older base. Looking towards Nantlle Ridge and Moel Eilio, with Ynys Mon hazily visible beyond.

The stone ring towards the north-eastern end of the summit ridge. Looking towards the Y Moelwynion.

This stone ring is the first non-marker feature I came across. Coflein shows a cairn here, but it’s not clear what this is. It may be a modern setting of robbed stone.

Moel Eilio is the prominent peak in the centre. Nantlle ridge to the left, Elidir Fawr right of centre. The viewpoint is Y Grisiau, just below the summit of Moel Hebog.

Moel yr Ogof is the summit in the centre, with a forbidding facade of crags protecting its southeastern approaches. The cairn is just below the summit. The skyline boasts Yr Eifl (top left) and the Nantlle ridge, with various summit cairns.

Elevated landscape context, from Y Grisiau just below the summit of Moel Hebog. Dinas is indicated. Dinas Emrys is centre, just below the blue waters of Llyn Dinas. Beddgelert is the village at the bottom of the shot.

Dinas, centre, seen from the lower slopes of Moel Hebog. Carnedd Moel Siabod rises above it all, centre.

Looking over Saltergate Brow to where the ‘legendary’ Saltersgate Inn stood for over 200 years, until it was demolished in 2018.

The eastern section of dyke.

Looking ESE along the dyke.

Looking WNW from the western end of the dyke.

This slender, suspiciously megalithic stone lies above the edge of the escarpment, just north of the western end of Double Dyke.

From the north.

The hedge has grown up a lot since we last came here, rather diminishing the effect of the hill as backdrop.

Blakey Topping after a 25 year gap between visits.

Two stones at the foot of the barrow, on the eastern side.